


SOME SYMBOLS AND ARCHETYPES IN BLAKE'S 7 (meta)

by HermitLibrary_Archivist



Category: Blake's 7
Genre: Gen, Meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-05-26
Updated: 2008-05-26
Packaged: 2018-04-19 06:06:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4735301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HermitLibrary_Archivist/pseuds/HermitLibrary_Archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>By Natasa Tucev</p>
            </blockquote>





	SOME SYMBOLS AND ARCHETYPES IN BLAKE'S 7 (meta)

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Judith and Aralias, the archivists: This story was originally archived at [Hermit.org Blake's 7 Library](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Hermit_Library), which was closed due to maintenance costs and lack of time. To preserve the archive, we began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2015. We posted announcements about the move and emailed authors as we imported, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this author, please contact us using the e-mail address on [Hermit.org Blake's 7 Library collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/hermitlibrary/profile). 
> 
> This work has been backdated to 26th of May 2008, which is the last date the Hermit.org archive was updated, not the date this fic was written. In some cases, fics can be dated more precisely by searching for the zine they were originally published in on [Fanlore](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Main_Page).

According to H. L. Borges, there are four stories the human kind tells over and over since the beginning of time:

 

  * The first is about defending a city.
  * The second, about returning home.
  * The third is of a heroic quest.
  * The fourth rehearses the sacrifice of a god.



The elements of the first three are easy to discern in Blake's 7: defending a city is (symbolically) what the Federation does. Returning home is what Blake longs for ("I'm coming back", "I'll find a way of getting back to Earth..."). The third, however, is predominant: Blake's 7 is clearly a quest story, in terms of Blake's quest for freedom, for the means to destroy Federation, eventually embodied in his quest for Star One. Blake may be viewed as an archetypal hero of a quest-myth. His companions, on the other hand, are not necessarily archetypal figures, although one could find their origin in certain types recurring in myths and legends: a wizard, a thief, a giant, a dark and a blond woman (the last two usually together and opposing or supplementing each other).

What other archetypes are inherent in the story? The opening of the episode one is largely symbolical, meant to allude to an initiation rite. The initiate is asked to refrain from food and drink, he is led through an underground maze, he crosses a stream and is then reborn into a new self. In an archaic society, the initiate becomes fully aware of himself and consequently ready to join the community. Ironically, Blake becomes fully aware of himself only to be exiled from the community.

The birth of one's true self also implies the recognition of one's true origin. A "disobedient son" to the Federation and its oppressive laws, Blake may perhaps recognise a different father-figure in the kind old man Foster ("foster-father") who reveals to him his past and true identity. His mother is nature - the natural world being strongly opposed to the city (natural water vs. the drugged city water, etc.). Blake feels very much at home in the natural world (cf. "Duel") and the predominant colours of his clothes throughout the series are green and brown.

His dead brother and sister may be meant to symbolise the two basic components of his personality - male and female, rational and irrational, which he sets out to restore. This may explain why his "way back" is initiated by a male- female couple (Richie and Ravella) and why the first two principal characters he chooses for friends are Avon and Jenna.

There are motifs throughout the series indicating that the outcome of the quest will be tragic and its goal (freedom, victory over Federation) never accomplished. One of them is the recurrent image of Blake taking wound in his arm/shoulder/hand ("Space Fall", "The Web", "Duel", "Project Avalon"...). Symbolically, he reaches for something he cannot achieve, a process which will eventually destroy him.

Archetypes are defined as images and stories originating in the collective unconscious - the storehouse of the human kind's earliest memories, bearing witness to our deepest desires, goals and fears. Recognizing the archetypal symbols in Blake's 7 may, at least partially, account to the great popularity and appeal of this series.


End file.
